Research will be pursued in the following areas: 1. The mechanism of tubulin self-assembly into microtubules; in particular the effects of calcium ions on microtubule stability; 2. The pathway of tubulin association into closed ring structures will be investigated by stopped-flow and pressure-jump kinetics; 3. The mechanism of protein stabilization by various salts and by dimethylsulfoxide will be pursued with an analysis of the phenomena by multicomponent thermodynamic theory and by linked function relations.